Monthly Archives: October 2013

Richard Palmer is the royal correspondent for the U.K.’s Daily Express. He’s one of the most active royal correspondents on Twitter with over 20 thousand followers. His popularity is no doubt due to his honest commentary on the royals and his ready interaction with his followers. Fortunately, that same openness allowed me to quiz him a bit. Enjoy!

What’s your background and how did you begin covering the royal family?

I’ve been a reporter for 30 years in various guises and have written about a whole range of subjects, from the environment to crime, education, international news ( particularly the Balkans and the Middle East), and sport. I spent eight years at The Sunday Times, worked in Paris and the Middle East regional headquarters in Nicosia for Agence France-Presse, covered sport for the Sunday and then Daily Express, helped set up an internet start-up, and then returned to the Daily Express at the end of 2001.Continue reading Meet the Royal Press: a Q&A with Richard Palmer→

Marcia was one of the many royal journalists I was delighted to meet in Colorado. Having recently released a biography on Kate she’s now in the midst of completing a bio on Prince Harry (due out next Spring.) Not bad work if you can get it, huh? She was kind of enough to provide some insight into what it’s like writing about royalty for a living.

What’s your background and how did you begin writing about the royal family?

My background is in celebrity journalism. I was features editor on OK magazine which had always focused on what the mainstream audience was interested in, and there hadn’t previously been much demand for royal stories. When William and Kate got engaged, the whole country sat up, and suddenly it seemed everyone wanted to read about the royal family. I was made royal correspondent, and then wrote Kate: A Biography which is out right now, and Harry: A Biography which is out in the spring. I wanted to write the books for a younger readership, and those who are newly-intrigued about the royal family and want to know more.